Cameraman punished for sexist remarks, two more freelancers investigated by Mediacorp

In reports, Mediacorp has investigated and punished a cameraman in connection to a series of Facebook posts published by one if its former employees, Juwon Park.

Previous reports by Alvinology showed that Juwon took issue with several remarks made by one of her colleagues. In a series of Facebook posts that she captions “Sexism in 2017,” Juwon confronted a colleague through text message that she was hurt and offended by comments made about her body and intelligence.

In the series of screenshots that she posted to the public, Juwon recounted to the colleague in question a previous conversation, where he had referred to her breasts as inadequate for becoming a TV presenter. He also allegedly said that she should “act dumb” and not be too smart if she wanted to get garther in the industry.

The colleague apologized for the previous conversation and said that he only meant the exchange as “a joke.”

After Alvinology.com broke the story, Mediacorp contacted us to say that they were conducting an investigation.

A week after these incidents, the media company deemed that the colleague who is a cameraman in the same unit as Juwon to be in the wrong. They have made disciplinary action against the cameraman, but declined to say what they have sanctioned for the employee.

Juwon hides, but faces the office with courage a few days later

In a Facebook post set to Public, Juwon said that her story went viral and was picked up by various news outlets and discussed widely throughout the Singaporean online community.

Juwon said that she had to face intense scrutiny from netizens and colleagues, which caused her to stay inside until she mustered up her courage.

When she returned to the office, she was subjected to muttering, whispering, and a lot of her colleagues shunning her.

According to Juwon’s post, some of her colleagues avoided her and others even blamed her for creating the issue simply because she could not “take jokes.”

Still, she expressed gratitutude for the company and her collaegues and said that she is leaving Singapore soon.

What’s happening now in Mediacorp?

After Juwon’s initial post, other employees have come forward to complain about sexism in the workplace. New complaints have surfaced that have been leveled at the same cameraman in the report.

Two other employees in the cameraman’s same unit have been accused of similar sexist remarks, and are under investigation.

Mediacorp officials in various interviews have reiterated that, “Our code of business conduct and ethics states that we do not condone any form of harassment and that employees who know of or witness inappropriate behaviours should report them. All employees of Mediacorp sign a renewed commitment to this code every year.”

The identity of the cameraman

In an interview with Mediacorp, the company said that the cameraman figuring in the complaint was not Australian and why there was a reference to Australia in the conversation. The company declined to name the nationality of the staff, but Channel News Asia and other sources said that he is Singaporean.

In Juwon’s conversations with the man in question, he mentioned that he was only used to Australian culture.

Do you agree with Mediacorp’s actions? What do you think about Juwon and her resignation? Let us know in the comments!

Header image from Mediacorp Facebook page.